While cleaning out my “special things” drawer tonight I came across several belt buckles that I have saved for one reason of the other. I think I have worn them all but the Marlboro one at one time or the other, since I will never wear them again, why do I keep them? It will just be something else for someone to clean out and toss one day.
The B.A.S.S. one I got back when I was a bass fishing Watts Bar Lake, pretending to be Bill Dance or Rowland Martin, and was a member of B.A.S.S. Pro. Don’t fish anymore! Besides, if I did and fell in, I doubt I could swim with that thing on!
The Marlboro one was given to me by one of my father’s-in-law after he got it with a special 2-carton promotion package. He is gone and I do not smoke anymore and did not smoke Marlboros when I did.
The World’s Fair one I got when the big shindig was in town in ’82. The fair is gone, the Butcher’s are gone, all but the Sunsphere is gone (for now), and the “World’s Fair Beer” is too old to drink now. I thought for sure I would make a killing off the case I bought and saved. Should have drank it!
The Cobra one was special to me especially when I bought a new ’93 Mustang Cobra, but it is gone, why is it still here?
The next two, 1 brass and 1 stainless, I made while on midnight shift many years ago while trying to learn to weld. I wanted one because everyone else was making and wearing them. No one does anymore and they do not look as good as I once thought they did. So why are they still here?
The X-1 buckle probably means the most, and I wore it the longest. That was back when I had a 36” waist and I thought it looked good with my designer jeans! That was probably the last time I could even see my belt buckle! I got it by sending off something once so I could have a little something that reminded me of my hero Chuck Yeager. He is still around; he is still one of America’s greatest heroes, so I know why it is still here!
The Ithaca one may still have a reason for being – I still have the 12-gauge semi-auto, but I will probably never wear the buckle again. So, I should probably see if a “punkin ball” will go through it!
The one with my name was given to me by a fat girl from California that fell in love with me once. She is gone and I am glad, so why do I keep the buckle? Maybe it was the Pop Rocks incident!
The last one is a piece of junk the Air Force gave me back in ’64…should have thrown it out in ’68!
The B.A.S.S. one I got back when I was a bass fishing Watts Bar Lake, pretending to be Bill Dance or Rowland Martin, and was a member of B.A.S.S. Pro. Don’t fish anymore! Besides, if I did and fell in, I doubt I could swim with that thing on!The Marlboro one was given to me by one of my father’s-in-law after he got it with a special 2-carton promotion package. He is gone and I do not smoke anymore and did not smoke Marlboros when I did.
The World’s Fair one I got when the big shindig was in town in ’82. The fair is gone, the Butcher’s are gone, all but the Sunsphere is gone (for now), and the “World’s Fair Beer” is too old to drink now. I thought for sure I would make a killing off the case I bought and saved. Should have drank it!
The Cobra one was special to me especially when I bought a new ’93 Mustang Cobra, but it is gone, why is it still here?
The next two, 1 brass and 1 stainless, I made while on midnight shift many years ago while trying to learn to weld. I wanted one because everyone else was making and wearing them. No one does anymore and they do not look as good as I once thought they did. So why are they still here?
The X-1 buckle probably means the most, and I wore it the longest. That was back when I had a 36” waist and I thought it looked good with my designer jeans! That was probably the last time I could even see my belt buckle! I got it by sending off something once so I could have a little something that reminded me of my hero Chuck Yeager. He is still around; he is still one of America’s greatest heroes, so I know why it is still here!
The Ithaca one may still have a reason for being – I still have the 12-gauge semi-auto, but I will probably never wear the buckle again. So, I should probably see if a “punkin ball” will go through it!
The one with my name was given to me by a fat girl from California that fell in love with me once. She is gone and I am glad, so why do I keep the buckle? Maybe it was the Pop Rocks incident!
The last one is a piece of junk the Air Force gave me back in ’64…should have thrown it out in ’68!
We should all keep our drawers cleaned out…you never know when you might have an accident and have to go to the emergency room!
Post-Script: A lot of the these buckles are actually posted on eBay now. Wow, maybe I'll hang on to them for a few more years!
12 comments:
Great post! Oddly I was thinkning of just such a post (I'll prop you when U get around to writing it) as I recently returned from the West with a new leather belt and buckle! I enjoy visiting (and voting) for your blog... Rock On!
Walk-a-bout!
hey, those are pretty cool
I had an extended career as a belt maker and buckle collector. Half the buckles I ended up with were things like yours, things I actually wore, the other half are just buckles that never sold and here I still have them 20 and 30 years later. I like the two you made better than the others, possibly because I've seen so many commercial buckles that I'm always glad to see something that's not so fuckin' slick!
What the hell is it with guys? We never throw anything away. I think we've all probably got a drawer like yours, full of crap that we've squirrled away over our lives. I love the X-1 buckle. That's cool as hell! Growing up in the Air Force, I'd have given anything to be able to wear that one around school and the base. I have a service one like yours too. ROTC leftover. My special one is a Soviet Navy buckle I picked up in Kiev in '83. One of my favorite proffs in college wore a Soviet Army one, brass with a star and hammer and sickle. Went over there on a tour determined to find one like his, and did, but then found the Navy one too. Brass with a small star over an anchor. It was a bit rarer and cooler. Wore it for years, through several belts, but like you, I haven't worn it in ages, since I've been able to see the belt.
Those are pretty cool, and I do like the Chuck Yeager one myself:)
Thanks for checking out my blog(s)... I neglected to "uncheck" viewbale blogs in my profile after updating their online programming--oops! You are correct... I use those other blogs to play with the medium and rough draft some posts.
Thanks gain for the visit and sorry for the wild goose chase.
CastawayWalk-a-bout
Ebay!
Thanks for all the nice comments guys!
Yeah...eBay is an alternative to the dump, but I'm afraid I may be too lazy to that. We'll see.
You should post pictures or send me the Russian buckle shots FHB...love to see them.
Why do fat girls always get a bad rap?!
Same with fat boys...I suppose.
The one with all the circles looks like silver - or is it aluminum? It's kinda groovy.
No, it's stainless steel, made from different size tubes.
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